David Smydra is currently VP of Product at POLITICO. In previous leadership positions at Google and Twitter, Smydra has managed teams of journalists, curators, and content specialists who successfully integrate journalistic expertise with cutting-edge product development. He has also worked in Partnerships, Operations, and Editorial roles on multiple new products.
Smydra was a 2019 graduate of the Poynter Institute’s Media Transformation Challenge (formerly the Sulzberger Fellowship), and a 2014 Visiting Nieman Fellow.
Smydra has worked in digital media for almost 20 years. He earned an M.A. at Stanford’s Graduate Program in Journalism before working as a local beat reporter for the Half Moon Bay Review, where his economic and breaking news reporting earned accolades from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. His freelance writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere.
Smydra has been a speaker at past ONAs, co-chaired ONA15, and chaired the Online Journalism Awards from 2016-18. He is a past Treasurer (2018-19) and Vice President (2020-21), and current ONA President (2022-23).